Shock absorber



T.\ ELL o- SHOCK ABSORB Filed Aug 10, 1929 Inv 1. 7 rederIJckIElbbZZ, by WM.

i atentecl July 7, 1931 FREDERICK T. ELLIOTT, OF SOIaIER-VILLE, IeIASSACHU ETTS SHOCK -ABSORBER Application filed August 16, 1929.

This invention relates to shock absorbers for automobiles, the object of the invention being the production of an inexpensive but ciiicient device of this character which will be double acting and retard the movement of the car springs gradually during the compression and recoil of said springs.

This object is attained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, one preferred form thereof is illus trated in the drawings, this form having been found to give satisfactory and reliable re sults, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized, and the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described except as required by the scope of the appended claims.

. Of the drawings:

Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a shock absorber embodying the principles of the present invention, the cutting plane being on line 1, 1, on Fig. 2.

Figure 2 represents a section of the same on line 2, 2, on Fig. 1. a

Figure 3 represents an inverted plan of a portion of the oscillating shaft.

Figure 4 represents a plan of a portion of said oscillating shaft.

Figure 5 represents a section of same on line 5, 5, on Fig. l.

Figure 6 represents asection of same on line 6, 6, on Fig. 3.

Figure 7 represents a section on line 7, 7, on Fig. 1. p

Figure 8 represents a section of the inner ring of the stuiiing box surrounding the oscil lating shaft, and

Figure 9 represents an elevation of a portion of the partition within the oil chamber.

Similar characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

in the drawings, 10 is a casing having acylindrical chamber 11 therein which is closed by the cover 12 threaded to said casing.

The rear wall of the casing 10 has a cylin- Serial 11. 384,953.

drical depression 13 forme which is disposed one end of an oscillating shaft 14, the opposite end of which extends through a stuifing box 15 on d therein within the cover 12 and has keyed to its outer end an arm 16.

The outer end of the arm 16 is pivotally connected in any well. known manner to the frame of the automobile while the casing 10' abut the inner wall of casing 10 and the inner face of cover 12.

To the inner wall of casing 10 is secured a partition 19 by means of bolts 20 extend ing through the ears 21 formed on said partition, the upper end of said partitioncontacting *ith the periphery of the oscillating shaft The lower end of said partition'19 has set in a groove therein packing strip 22.

The partition 19 and'blade 18 divide the chamber 11. into two compartments a and b and the entire chamber 11 filled with oil or other liqui is adapted to be d.

Under normal conditions the blade 18 is vertical as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

but when the car springs are compressed and the body of the car moves downwardly relatlvely to the car frame, said blade 18 will'be moved in the direction of Fig. 1.

the arrow 0 on The shoulder 23 on the partition 19 will limit the downward movem 18 but as a matter of fact,

never contact withsaid shoulder 23 when the chamber 11 is filled with oil.

ent of said blade the blade 18 will Cut into the lower part of the periphery of the oscillating shaft is a crescent shaped groove 2% of greater depth in the center than at either end as shown in'F Centrally disposed in the ig. 1. upper end of the partition 19 is avertical passage 25, the up per end of which communicates with one end of a depression 26 in said partltion opposite the groove 24.

The opposite end of said d epression 26 communicates with the compartment a of the chamber 11. I

The lower end of the passage 25 communicates with a lateral passage 27 in which is disposed a ball 28 normally on a valve seat 29 and preventing flow of oil from the b compartment to the a compartment of chamber 11.

The ball valve 28 is retained in the passage 27 by the projections 30.

When the blade 18 moves in the direction of arrow 0 oil will be forced into the groove 24 and depression 23 and the greater portion of this oil will enter the passages 25 and 27 forcing the ball 28 from its seat 29 against the projections 30, thus permitting said oil to pass around the ball 28 into the compartment 6.

At the same time a small portion of the oil will pass from compartment a to coinpartment 6 through the shallow end 31 of the groove 24.

As the blade 18 commences to move from its normal position as shown in Fig. 1, the oil displaced will enter the deepest part of thecrescent shaped groove 24 but as said blade 18 continues to move in the direction of arrow 0, the shallow end 32 of said groove 24 will be moved opposite the depression 26 and retard the passage of oil from comp rtment a to compartment Z) and prevent too great a compression of the car springs.

As the blade 18 starts on its return move ment oil in compartment Z) entering passage 27 will force the ball valve 28 to its seat 29 and close the passage 25 so that no oil from compartment 6 can flow to compartment a through this passage 25.

All oil, therefore, passing from compartment Z) to coi'npartment a must pass through the groove 24 which is wide open at the initial return movement of the blade 18 but gradually closes, thus permitting a decreased quantity of oil to pass through said groove 24.

Owing to the crescent shape of the groove 24 and the gradual closing thereof during the oscillation of the shaft 14, all shock is edectually prevented both when the car springs are compressing or when recoiling.

It is selfevident, therefore, that a double acting shock absorber is provided which will take up the shock when the body of the vehicle is moving downwardly and will gradually retard its movement in the opposite direction.

The shaft 14 is provided with a bypass between the two compartments of chamber 11 which may be wholly opened, or entirely or partially closed to regulate the action of the blade 18 by supplying an additional means for the flow of-oil from one compartment to the other.

This by-pass consists of two radial passages 33 onopposite sides of the blade 18 ano communicating at their inner ends with the chamber 34.

These passages are preferably ofiset as shown in Fig. 4. V

Centrally disposed in the shaft 14 is an adjustable member 35 threaded to said shaft, as at 36 and having a flattened portion 37 at its inner end.

As shown in the drawings both passages 33 are open and oil may pass freely between the two compartments in either direction.

By adjusting and rotating the member 35 either passage 33 may be closed or partially closed and this operation will control the movement of the blade 18 decreasing or increasing the speed thereof as desired.

At the inner end of the stufiin box 15 is a metal ring 38 surrounding and in contact with the periphery of the shaft 14.

This ring 38 has in its periphery an annular recess39 from which a plurality of open ings 40 extend to the inner cylindrical wall thereof.

A conduit 41 in' the cover 12 communicates at one end with the recess 40, the opposite end communicating with a passage 42 in the partition leading to one of the compartments of the chamber 11.

Any oil forced outwardly around the shaft 14 will pass through the openings 40 into the recess 39 from which it will flow through the passage 42 into the compartment or.

The oil is prevented from flowing in the opposite direction by the ball valve 43 retained in the enlarged exit end of the conduit 41 by the projections 45.

This makes a very simple form of shock absorber, easily constructed, but very effective in operation.

It is believed that the operation and many advantages of the invention will be understood readily without further description.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an impcrforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and'abutting the walls of said chamber; and a single ra dial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition having a valved passage therethrough always communicating at one end with said groove.

2. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an imperforate radial blade sub-- stantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber; a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, saidpartition having a passage therethrough always communicating at one end with said groove; and a valve in said passage permitting the flow of oil in one direction only.

3. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an imperforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber; a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition having a passage therethrough always communicating at one end with said groove; a by-pass through said shaft communicating with said compartments adjacent the opposite faces of said blade; and means within said shaft for regulating the passage of oil through said by-pass.

4:. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chan1- ber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an imperforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber, said shaft having two radial holes therein communicating with both compartments at points adjacent the opposite faces of the blade; a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition having a valved passage therethrough always communicating at one end with said groove; and a member adjustable endwise in said shaft and adapted to regulate the passage of oil through said radial holes.

5. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an imperforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber; a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments said partition having a valved passage therethrough always communicating at one end with said groove; a ring surrounding said shaft having an annular peripheral recess and a plurality of openings extending therefrom: toithe inner wall of said ring; and a conduit from said recess to one of said compartments.

6. The combination of a casing having an:

inner chamber; with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft inisaid chamber. having a crescent shaped groove in the peripherythere'of and provided with a radial blade abutting the walls of said chamber; a partition in said chamber extending to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition having a valved passage therethrough communicating at one end with said groove; a ring surrounding said shaft having an annular peripheral recess and a plurality of openings extending therefrom to the inner wall of said ring; a conduit from said recess to one of said compartments; and a valve in said conduit permitting the flow of oil in one direction only.

7. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and pro-v vided with an imperforate radial blade sub stantially opposite said groove and abutting the'walls of said chamber; and a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition having at its inner end a depression always communicating with said groove and one of said compartments and provided with a valved passage leading from the inner end of said depression to the other compartment.

8. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with an imperforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber; a single radial partition in said chamber extending from the wall of said chamber to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments said partition having at its inner end a depression always communicating with said groove and one compartment and provided with a passage leading from the inner end of said depression to the other compartment; and a valve in said passage permitting the flow of oil in one direction only.

9. The combination of a casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a single crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and rovided with an imperforate radial blade substantially opposite said groove and abutting the walls of said chamber; a single radial y gust, 1929. 35'

partition; in said; chamber extending from thelwall or? said: chamber to said shaft. andcoacting with said blade to divide said'charnber into two compartments, said; partition '5 having at its innerend a. depression always communicating" with said groove and one compartment and provide with a valvedpasf sage leading from the inner end of said depression to the other compartment; a byfipass throughsaid shaft communicating with said compartments adjacent the opposite faoesof said blade; and means for regulating the passage of oil through said by-pass. 10. The combination of av casing having an inner chamber with a cylindrical wall; a centrally disposed oscillating shaft in said chamber having a crescent shaped groove in the periphery thereof and provided with a radial blade abutting the walls of misaid chamber; a partition. in said chamber extending to said shaft and coacting with said blade to divide said chamber into two compartments, said partition: having at its inner end a depression. extending from 2 5one side of the partition and normally 0pposite the deepest part of said groove and provided with apassage from the inner end of said depression to the opposite side of said partition; and a Valve in said passage 'permitting the flow of oil in one direction only.

Signed by me at 746 Old: South Building, Boston, Massachusetts, this 9th day of Au- FREDERICK T. ELLIOTT. 

